Susan Hated Literature

Dir: Paul Greengrass
Writ: Tony Gilroy ; Scott Z. Burns ; George Nolfi & Tony Gilroy
Based on the book by Robert Ludlum

• Matt Damon … Jason Bourne
• Julia Stiles … Nicky Parsons
• David Strathairn … CIA Deputy Director Noah Vosen
• Scott Glenn … CIA Director Ezra Kramer
• Paddy Considine … Simon Ross
• Albert Finney … Dr. Albert Hirsch
• Joan Allen … Pamela Landy

Bourne is back. Or maybe it’d be more accurate to say taht he never really went away, as this film picks up even before the second in the series, The Bourne Supremacy, has finished. So it is worth your while making sure you’ve seen that before you take a look at this one. That being said it isn’t vital, you’ll pick up on a main plot soon enough, and while what you miss out on does add to the film it isn’t totally necessary as there is plenty of back story floating around in this film.

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As in The Bourne Identity
Dir: Doug Liman
Writ: William Blake Herron & Tony Gilroy
Starring

• Matt Damon … Jason Bourne
• Franka Potente … Marie Helena Kreutz
• Chris Cooper … Alexander Conklin
• Clive Owen … The Professor
• Brian Cox … Ward Abbott
• Gabriel Mann … Danny Zorn
• Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje … Nykwana Wombosi

And The Bourne Supremacy
Dir: Paul Greengrass
Writ: Tony Gilroy
Staring:

• Matt Damon … Jason Bourne
• Franka Potente … Marie
• Brian Cox … Ward Abbott
• Julia Stiles … Nicky
• Karl Urban … Kirill
• Gabriel Mann … Danny Zorn
• Joan Allen … Pamela Landy

Both based on the novels by Robert Ludlum. No spoilers.

I remember really enjoying The Bourne Identity when I watched it first. But for some reason I never saw the sequel, but with the third out now in the cinemas I thought this is an ideal opportunity to catch up. And when I spotted the dvd set of the pair was only 18 euro I nabbed it.

I haven’t watched any of the extras yet, so can’t comment on those, but I really enjoyed the films. The are the perfect blend of reality and fantasy violence.

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Dir: Robert de Niro
Writ: Eric Roth

• Matt Damon - Edward Bell Wilson
• Angelina Jolie - Clover/Margaret Ann Russell
• Alec Baldwin - Sam Murach
• Tammy Blanchard - Laura

This is the story of Edward Wilson, a man who has believed in the United States of America all his life, who has always done what he thinks is right, a spy, a husband, a father. The story of the emergence of the CIA, of the Cold War, of Castro and Cuba, of relationships and love and loyalty and family. Of secrets and lies, or truth and betrayal.

Surely with all that going on it should have been a good, film?
Not so much. My god! was I ever bored sitting through this. The character of Edward Wilson was not a verbose one, which is fine, if you get across that there is something going on underneath the quiet. Not here. Damon came across as merely dumbstruck. There was never any real indication of his abilities as a spy, just a lot of him standing there, silent.

And at 167 minutes long, you really should have someone that the audience can engage with. Whether to root for, or despise, or just be interested in. I didn’t care about any of what was going on. The only thing that maybe worked, was the sense that in the end it was all worthless. The Cold War, the espionage, which side you were on — it all meant nothing. But that wasn’t pushed enough either. Instead it came across as a boring, boring film. Occasionally while watching I did think to myself, oh that’s a nice shot, but nice shots don’t make a film. And neither do attempts to mean something. Your film has to either entertain, or have meaning. This had neither.

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Dir: Martin Scorsese
Writ: William Monahan based on previous screenplay by Siu Fai Mak & Felix Chong

• Leonardo DiCaprio - Billy Costigan
• Matt Damon - Colin Sullivan
• Jack Nicholson - Frank Costello
• Mark Wahlberg - Dignam
• Martin Sheen - Oliver Queenan
• Ray Winstone - Mr. French
• [Alec Baldwin - Ellerby

It took me a while, but I finally managed to go see this film last night, and now I want to go again, because it really is fantastic. Bloody, violent, full of no-good nastiness and general scumbaggery. But wonderful to watch all the same.

The film begins “some years ago” where we see a young Colin Sullivan being approached by local bad-guy-boss Costello and groomed to join the police force and become a mole. Billy Costigan also joins the police force, but he is sent out as an undercover cop to infiltrate Costello’s gang. Sullivan meanwhile has succeeded in rising through the force and is now doing the exact opposite, infiltrating the police for Costello’s benefit.

Thematically the film is mainly concerned with betrayal and family and loyalty. Both DiCaprio and Damon are playing the character of a rat, but in very different ways, and I’d have to say that DiCaprio plays it better. Or maybe just got the better role. Damon is great as the cocky, upwardly mobile cop, but it is DiCaprio’s character who has more emotion and development to explore.

All the acting is top-notch, though on occasion I thought Nicholson went a little over the top. It could be argued that his character is over the top, so we’ll let it go. It is two and half hours of a great film, you won’t notice the time passing at all.

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• Matt Damon …. Wilhelm Grimm
• Heath Ledger …. Jacob Grimm
• Monica Bellucci …. Mirror Queen
• Lena Headey …. Angelika

Well, this’ll teach me not to keep offline copies of my reviews won’t it. The original had been eradicated from web-land, so my poor memory will have to come up with another review of this film.

I really enjoyed this film, possibly because I’d read so many bad reports and people giving out about it. Okay, so it wasn’t perfect, but it was more than entertaining. Ledger and Damon were good in their roles as brothers out to con their way through life. Maybe the Italian torture fella was a little over done, but I was in that sort of a mood and found him funny.

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